Harapan pans MCO business exemptions as half-baked

The government's decision to grant exemptions for additional sectors to operate during the movement control order period is half-baked, the Pakatan Harapan secretariat said.

"It was not well thought out. The decision to allow certain sectors to operate appears to have been done inconsistently," the secretariat said in a statement today.

The statement was signed by Amanah's Hatta Ramli (above), PKR's Fahmi Fadzil, and DAP's Ong Kian Ming.

The International Trade and Industry Ministry yesterday announced a cabinet decision that starting Monday several sectors can apply for exemptions to operate during the MCO.

These include barbershops, full-service laundry outlets, machinery and equipment industry, the aerospace industry, construction projects and related services, science, professional and technical services inclusive of research and development (R&D), social health services including registered traditional and complementary medicine, as well as hardware shops, electric and electronic goods shops and opticians.

The Harapan secretariat said in principle they welcomed efforts to reduce the negative economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis.

However, they said several questions arose from the government's move such as why the legal profession can apply for exemptions but not accountants.

They also questioned whether barbershops, laundry outlets and traditional medicine services fulfilled the conditions set by the government for granting exemptions.

Further, they asked whether standard operating procedures for these additional sectors would be required to follow social distancing.

The Harapan secretariat also questioned whether the government, especially the International Trade and Industry Ministry, had the capacity to process all the requests for exemptions.

They said there will be a deluge of requests which may force the ministry's officers to work around the clock to process them, it added. - Mkini